Fatherly Instinct
by Maiden of the Heavens
Summary: He didn't want her to become a monster or to live her life as a weapon. Simply put he did not want her to end up like him, Logan wanted her to have a better life, so he saved her and decided to raise her as his own with some help from Rouge. But he should of realized that becoming a father was not going to be easy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first ever try at writing a LoganxRouge story so please give it a shot. This is also my first time writing a Logan and X-23 story. I am trying my best with both, and trying to keep everyone in character. So I am just dipping my toes in the water with this one, but I hope you like what you read. I do own any of the characters, except for the plot of this story, sort of. Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **

Chapter 1

Logan found himself nursing a major hangover, when he found his cellphone beeping in the middle of the night on the nightstand. Couldn't everyone just leave him alone? He just had to kill the woman that he loved, a woman that gone mad with power, a woman that he had to kill to save the world. The feral found himself fumbling around in the dark for a pair jeans and stuffing his feet into a pair of shoes, the cell phone still left blinking like an emergency light. He finally grabbed it, it was a voicemail. And it wasn't very long either. It could have been from Ivy Dujardin, now LeBeau, but she only called to chat him up during the day, to make sure that he was okay, to make sure that he was still alive. To let him know, that she was struggling to cope with the death of Professor Xavier just as he was. But that wasn't all that he was just struggling to get a grip on, and Ivy knew it. He had killed Jean Grey, a woman he had once loved.

He pressed the voicemail button with a single, slightly shaking finger, and pressed his ear to the cellphone. "L-Logan, m-my name is Sarah Kinnley…I was part of the Weapon X program…" the woman's breathing sounded labored and her voice was so quiet, Logan could hardly hear her. He nearly wanted to crush the cellphone then and there when she mentioned being part of the Weapon X program, but instead he forced himself to keep listening. "They made a clone of you…sort of…her name is Laura. S-s-she's our daughter…I-I-I-I-I need you save her….please…I don't want her…to become…a monster…she isn't a monster…she's just a little girl…please you have to…save her…."

Once the voicemail stopped, Logan simply stared at the phone for a couple of seconds. He shut his eyes and released the breath; he had not even realized he had been holding. The sleepy groan from the other side of the double bed, made him look over at the person he had started sharing his bed with a seven months ago. Even though killing Jean Grey was still a fresh wound in his heart, he knew deep down he never loved her. The girl wearily opened her hazel eyes and looked, her eyes still glazed with sleep. She was sleeping in one of his t-shirts. Her dark auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail, the streaks of white almost glowing in the moonlight that came from the window.

"Somethin' wrong? Didja have another nightmare?" she asked through a yawn, tugging oddly at the long sleeve gloves she wore to bed. She was also wearing leggings and socks.

Logan smirked a little and gently kissed her forehead, gently and quickly so her mutation did not have time to activate. Even after taking the "Cure" her powers still had returned slowly and painfully like a snail, only a month after she had taken it. "Go back to bed." He said gruffly and yanking on a t-shirt and a long sleeved flannel shirt, he left Rogue to cuddle back under the covers and fall back into dreamland.

The kitchen was dead silent when he entered it. Sighing, he rested head against the door of the refrigerator, his hand gripping the handle until his knuckles turned white. The message from Sarah Kinnley still echoed in his mind like a record jammed on the repeat button. _She isn't a monster…she's just a little girl. She's just a little girl. _He growled in frustration, almost bending the refrigerator handle. What the hell was he supposed to do? Go and get her, save her, and then what raise her as his own? Damn it, he didn't know anything about raising kids, and Rouge being only twenty-two was far younger than him, and he knew that if they ever had any children, the process of it would be rather difficult, and even then he would still feel like a ravage animal in a china shop. But he could not just leave the girl, Laura, to be turned into a monster…to be used as a weapon.

The feral looked down at his phone. Three AM blinked digitally at him, as if to try to remind him that he had other obligations, other paths that he could take that were not reckless and life threatening. Rouge and he were somewhat happy, their relationship still a lot on the rocky side like a rock slide ready to give at any moment, but he was happy to be with her. Never minding the fact that they had moved from New York and into a small Colorado town, it had been Rouge's idea. They needed to escape from everything for a little while. And this old and creaky four bedroom, two bathroom house had become their almost permanent nest. But what would Rouge think if he suddenly came back home with Laura? How was he going to explain it to her? Would Rouge accept Laura? Would Laura even have human enough emotions to comprehend what had been done to her, and that Logan wanted her to be a part of his life, that for so long he had wanted to become a father, but new that is far too dangerous? Damn it, he was thinking too far ahead, and too fast. And how did he even know that Doctor or Scientist woman was telling the truth?

First things first, he needed to save her. Find were she was holed up and get her out. He knew that doing this alone was reckless and life-threatening. And he did not want to leave Rouge to face the world all by herself. He had tried to do that and all it had gotten him was a ton of heartache, and a whole bunch of walls around him that had just begun to crumble.

If he was going to rescue Laura from becoming a tortured monster, he was going to help in getting her out, and he was going to need a professional. But not just any professional. He needed an expert thief…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am sorry this chapter took so long to post, but writing Wolverine is a lot more difficult to write than I thought he would be. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't worry the big X-23 rescue will happen in the next chapter. Please leave a review! –Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **

Chapter 2

_She isn't a monster…_

Those four words still echoed in Logan's mind as he held a lukewarm cup of coffee in his hands. The Cajun had not appreciated the four AM phone call. He had grumbled something about a long night, involving bar fights and sore losers, and something about the Earth Puppeteer just getting to bed after pulling an all-nighter to grade her students' papers. But through a yawn, Remy LeBeau had said that he would find out what he could about the Weapon X location from where he was, a lot of mutants came to the bar he worked at, so hopefully Remy could get some information. Right now, Logan decided that he would track down Forge and get the mutant to trace where the call had from. It seemed a hell of a lot faster than Remy's plan. He wanted this plan to go without a hitch, sure there would be blood. There was always blood.

The feral let out a sigh and ran his hands over his face. He was drained; sleep never came well to him anymore. He let the coffee slip down his throat as he waited for the caffeine to kick in, he would need it. He was not going to allow himself to pace back and forth like a caged animal. No, today he would treat the day like any other. First he would track down Forge, and then he would head to work. He rinsed out the mug in the sink and set the coffee maker to start brewing fresh coffee for Rogue. She would need the caffeine more than him. Not only was she taking classes at a local college to get her degree in social work, she was also working as a cleaning lady in a motel. While Logan worked at a mechanics shop, it wasn't the best jobs for either of them, but it gave them the money they needed to thrive. It was odd that both them chose work where they hardly needed to talk or touch people. For Rogue it was necessary, for Logan it was a comfort.

He jammed a piece wheat bread down into the toaster and began to search the fridge for the butter and jam. He smirked, finding bacon in the fridge, along with a carton of eggs. What the hell, he needed the meat, plus hopefully the art of cooking would help drag his mind away from Project X and Laura. Laura needed him, he knew that. She needed him to save her. And he would somehow. He started up the stove and waited until it was hot enough to cook the bacon. He slapped it on, as the grease began to sizzle and pop. His thoughts drifting to those of past experiences, he wished he never would have started remembering.

"Hey big guy, do you really like your bacon that crispy?" Rogue's teasing southern drawl yanked him out of his thoughts. He looked at her from out of the corner of his eyes. She was wearing dark jean shorts with long dark brown knee high socks and sneakers. She was also wearing a dark green vest and a long dark brown sleeved shirt. She had a ratty old backpack at her feet, while she shoved her sock-covered feet into her sneakers. She had not bothered to put her gloves on yet; her hair framed her face and went down to her shoulders. She picked up a piece of bacon that was already on her plate and nibbled on it. "Spill Logan, what's got you so uptight?"

The feral mutant sighed and piled the pig meat onto his plate, along with a massive heap of scrambled eggs. "It's complicated, Marie." He grumbled and forked up some eggs into his mouth.

Rogue added cream and sugar to her coffee, and gave him an annoyed look. "Just tell me."

Logan gave himself another forkful eggs before he responded. "I have to go rescue…my daughter."

Rogue nearly choked on her caffeinated morning beverage. "When did you-? How did-? Never mind, don't answer the how."

"She's a clone, sort of. The same people that were part of the Weapon X project, made her."

"And you're going to go save her from those egg headed bastards?" Rogue said, sipping down her coffee.

Logan nodded. "And you're not coming with." He said sternly. Rogue glared at him, but she did bother fighting back, even though she really wanted too.

"Fine, I'll stay here and make sure we don't end up homeless and on the street." She tucked a lock of her snow-white hair behind her ear. "So who did you find to help you with this break in and rescue?"

The feral mutant growled out the names, "Gumbo." and then "Forge." Rogue raised an eyebrow; it had to have been really tough for him to ask Remy LeBeau for help, Forge was too much of a chicken and afraid of Logan to back out if he demanded information.

She looked up at the clock that was on the oven. "Ugh, I'll see ya later big guy. I gotta get to class." She hauled her backpack over her shoulder and was about to grab the keys to her lemon of a car, when Logan kissed her.

It was a lingering kiss, that made the southern girl's skin prickle, but she could also feel her mutation beginning to activate. She shoved them apart rather roughly, glaring at Logan. He only smirked at her, and kissed her again. "Have your brains turned to mush, Logan?" Rogue fumed. Her hands now clenched into fists. "Do you wanna end in a coma?"

Logan only grinned. "It was just a kiss Rogue."

"Yeah, but that type of thing, c-could get you killed." Marie countered. "You gotta be more careful." She tucked on her gloves and headed out the door, the weight of textbooks causing the backpack to whack heavily against her back.

Logan watched her leave, before he piled the dirty dishes in the sink, and grabbed the keys to his motorcycle. He needed to find Forge, and then he plan out more thoroughly how he was going to rescue Laura. He just hoped he wasn't going to be too late.


End file.
